Monday, July 31, 2006

NYC: Early 20thC Motown

The Noma Speedster: assembled on the Lower East Side.

The Brewster: built in Queens.

The Durant: assembled in Queens.

From yesterday's NYT:

"NEW YORK CITY is known for many things — finance, fashion, tall buildings, high rents, yellow cabs, the Yankees and the Mets — but automobile manufacturing never seems to make anyone’s list of the city’s highlights. Yet, from the start of the 20th century until well into the 1930’s, more than 50 makes of cars were built in and around New York.

At that time, all the ingredients necessary to build cars — access to raw materials, cheap and efficient shipping, an inexpensive and skilled work force — were accessible. Towns with railroads and cities with ports were thought to have an advantage over areas without them, and a large population seemed to be a key to success."

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Studio 58 The Sound of Jazz: Billie Holiday

Reunited after many years with
tenor saxophonist Lester Young, Billie's visual reaction to his moving solo
remains as eloquent as anything she ever sang; a touching finale to their
historic musical partnership.

Introduced by Robert Herridge (producer/host of
CBS' "The Sound of Jazz"), this is perhaps the single most famous "live jazz"
performance in TV history. Other members of the all-star band seen here: Coleman
Hawkins, Ben Webster, Gerry Mulligan, Roy Eldridge, Doc Cheatham, Vic Dickenson,
Danny Barker, Milt Hinton, Mal Waldron...

Ether and Aether: Theremin

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Lucky Louie

Like many TV shows, Lucky Louie started a bit shaky. The pacing was off, and some of the dialogue was awkward. Its nowhere near as slick as Entourage, and the (purposefully) tawdry production values made the 1st few episodes seem almost amateurish.

Then, the show seemed to have found its voice. The most recent episode, Disicipline, is utterly hysterical. Some of it is due to the brilliant writing (think Seinfeld), the rest of the appeal is in that odd, Curb Your Enthusiasm/Office car wreck vibe. You want to look away, but you can't. The combination is devastatingly effective.

The real star of the show is the script, which starts out as standard sitcom fare, slowly goes over the top -- and then really takes a wild turn.

The show may initially look and sound like a typical sit com, but the dialogue is clearly
anything but. It very quickly veers wildly into new and uncharted territority.

It is simultaneously familiar yet unlike anytihng you've ever seen on TV. Oh, and the dialogue is scathingly funny.

Here's the opening sequence from last Sunday's show:>

Louie and his wife Kim are in Bed, obviously post-coital. He has a rather confused look on his face.

Kim: So, what happened there?

Louie: What do you mean?

Kim: Well, why did you get all weird when I put my finger up your ass?

Louie: Lets, uh, lets back up: Why did you put your finger in my ass?

Kim: I don't know.

Louie: We been married for 5 years, you never done that.

Kim: Well, you know, people do that sometimes.

Louie: Have you done it before?

Kim: Yeah, alot.

Louie: Really?

Kim: Yeah, sure, I'm a nurse dummy, I do it to my patients. And today I was doing it and I thought, Hey! Maybe Louie would like this.

Louie: Well, I don't, so, please don't do it again, ok?

Kim: OK, so you don't want anything put up your ass, but you want to stick your dick up mine?

Louie: Wait a minute, who said that?

Kim: What do you mean? Don't all guys fantasize about fucking women up the ass?

Louie: I don't.

Kim: Really? You don't?

Louie: No. I never understood that. I mean you are a millimeter away from the greatest place on earth. Why would you want to go in someone's dried out little asshole?

Kim: OK, your kinda putting down my asshole here.

Louie: I'm sure your asshole's fine -- I never even seen it.

Kim: Yeah, well, you should.

Louie: Why?

Kim: Because I'm your wife you should see my asshole -- you should know everything about me . . . What if you needed to identify me?

Louie: You mean, You mean if have an accident where your teeth are destroyed but your asshole survives? Alright, fine, I'll take a look (jesus).

Kim gets on all fours, facing away from Louie, butt in the air. Louie lifts her teddy, looks at her ass, raises his eyebrows, cocks his head from one side to the other, nods leans back and looks contemplative.

The Flying Dude

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

G8 Summiteers

"See the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over." -President George W. Bush to England's Tony Blair, St. Petersburg, Russia July 17, 2006